Coronavirus USA Death Toll Hits 545; 131 Deaths, 11,000 New Cases In One Day

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the daily coronavirus briefing at the White House on March 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. With the number of deaths caused by the coronavirus rising and foreseeable economic turmoil, the U.S. Congress continues to work on legislation for the nearly $2 trillion dollar aid package to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The United States led the world in total new COVID-19 cases on Monday -- a horrific first -- indicating the U.S. is likely tracing the paths taken by both Italy and the United Kingdom.

The U.S. reported 131 deaths in a single day from COVID-19 -- the first time in this pandemic the death toll has reached and exceeded 100 in a day. The number of deaths was the fourth highest in the world on Monday alone. The U.S. also reported almost 11,000 new confirmed cases on Monday -- the largest number in the world and more than twice that of Italy's.

The U.S. continues to break one terrible record after another as the COVID-19 virus spreads like wildfire across the mainland. On March 21, the U.S. became the world's third most COVID-19-infected country. With 545 total deaths as of Monday, the U.S. now has the sixth highest death toll in the world, according to both CNN and Worldometer. New York State has the most deaths in a single state with 157.

As of March 22, 6:13 p.m. ET, the U.S. reported 32,717 cases and 414 deaths, according to data from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. As of 6:16 p.m. ET March 23, CSSE reported 43,214 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S.

Worldometer data as of Sunday, 21:41 GMT, reveals 32,356 cases and 414 deaths in the U.S. As of Monday, 22:58 GMT, Worldometer reported 43,449 U.S. cased and 545 deaths, which was 132 more than Sunday's.

In Arizona, a man had died while his wife is in stable condition, after both took the anti-malaria drug, chloroquine, which president Donald Trump recently touted as a treatment for COVID-19 despite the absence of clinical studies proving its safety and the lack of approval from the World Health Organization.

The Banner Health hospital system in Phoenix said the couple (both in their 60s) ingested chloroquine phosphate, "an additive commonly used at aquariums to clean fish tanks." Alexis Kramer-Ainza, spokesperson for Banner Health, confirmed to BuzzFeed News the couple took the additive because they most likely read about chloroquine online and in recent news reports.

"We understand people are panicked and looking for answers," she said. "This is not the way to handle it. Self-medicating will only cause more damage."

Trump has said chloroquine could be instrumental in the fight against the coronavirus. Last week, he said chloroquine, which the FDA has not yet approved for treating COVID-19, "could be a game changer."